Entrepreneurship is a path that many people follow to reach economic freedom. It can give you the chance to work at your own pace and by your own rules. One of the best business ventures that you can start and run from home is a beauty parlor and salon.
There is a lot of work to do before you can get started. So you must try to create and follow a plan throughout the process. Below is our ultimate guide to turning a mobile home into a beauty parlor and salon.
Why should you open a home beauty parlor and salon?
Overall, the beauty industry is an extraordinarily profitable and stable market. It is one of those rare fields that’s been resistant to the economic downturn. Incredibly the industry generated $56.2 billion in the United States in 2015.
Hair care is the most significant section of this market. And skincare takes second place. The good news for you is that small companies play a major role in the total revenue from the industry.
But the question is, is this the right fit for you?
Here are ten characteristics that anyone starting a home beauty parlor and salon should have:
- You need to be brave and bold enough to be able to take a chance on your future.
- To run your own company, you have to be conscientious as well as responsible.
- Preferably, you have to be outgoing and be relatively good with chit-chat.
- Beauticians and hairdressers have to be detail-oriented.
- Excellent time management skills will be really handy in running a salon.
- You need to have a flair for creativity.
- Trends are always changing. Therefore, you need to have an eye for style. But you also need to be willing to learn new information and skills continually.
- It will be a great idea to learn some business skills, perhaps by taking a course.
- While being friendly is vital, you have to be professional, too.
Providing beauty services can be a very exciting and fulfilling career path, especially if you love making other people feel better about themselves.
One reason why it works well to run the business from home is that you can create the ideal atmosphere from scratch. You can create a setting that is cozy and relaxed. But still, keep it beautiful and professional.
Guide to starting a beauty parlor & salon
Despite all the positives, you need to be aware that running your own beauty parlor and salon takes a lot of work. You will need to dedicate quite a lot of time and effort into the venture.
The work starts with the preparation. There are several administrative matters you need to take care of before you can officially start and open your business.
Craft a business plan
Whenever you start a company, you have to craft a business plan. In short, it is a roadmap that defines your objectives and outlines how you will achieve this. It isn’t something you can knock out in one go. Instead, it takes time and conscientious effort.
To do this, you will need to consider all the aspects of the venture, including financing and your target market. A vital part is deciding what services you are going to offer. It also means that you need to work out a price list.
Here is some advice on how to write a business plan.
Permits and licensing
You need to check local laws and regulations to find out if you will need to apply for specific permits and licenses. This will vary based on your area as well as the service you plan to provide.
The following are some of the common permits, licenses, and regulations that are required for parlors and salons:
- Salon license
- Cosmetology license
- Sanitation
- OSHA requirements
- Employee Identification Number
- Building permit
You need to work this into your budget and timeline. For example, a typical cosmetology program takes about nine to twelve months to complete.
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Insurance policy
It’s a good idea to sort out your insurance policies from the start. This will help protect you, your business, and your future employees. Beauty salons usually take out very comprehensive business insurance.
The policies typically include:
- General liability insurance
- Home and auto insurance
- Workers’ compensation insurance
- Professional liability/indemnity insurance
Refurbish your mobile home
Once you have sorted out all this admin and planning, you are ready to move ahead. Next, you need to start the physical transformation of your mobile home into your beauty parlor and salon.
In general, the more services you will provide, the more space you need. Most of the time, hair salons run from one, large, open plan room or area. However, for massages and other cosmetological services, it usually works better to have different rooms.
It all depends on the floor plan you have to work with. In a mobile home, the living room is the ideal spot to situate your parlor. You can also transform some of the bedrooms and allocate them for particular services.
Don’t rush into this process without preparation. Instead, sit down and work out a solid design plan in which you deal with every single aspect of the space. No detail is too small, not even how you are going to store the hairpins.
Reception area
One of the essential areas that you need is a reception area. This will help you streamline the flow in your salon.
We recommend that you get a front desk. You can use it for phone calls, for handling bills, and handling appointments. The counter should have enough drawers that you can store away any clutter out of sight.
Preferably you should place the counter as close to the front door as possible.
It’s a great idea to get some comfy chairs and couches for this section as well. No matter how efficient you are, clients will probably have to wait at times. Putting out some fashion or lifestyle magazines will be a nice touch.
Wet stations
All salons with hair care services need a wet station to wash their client’s hair.
Typically you will place this at the back of the salon. Some establishments even prefer to separate it with a room divider, but this isn’t necessary.
For this, you will need specialized reclining chairs. You will also need basins with showerheads that you can connect to a water source. To keep it neat, consider getting a sink with a cabinet or some other place to store your shampoos and conditioners.
You should get at least two sets. But you might want to get more if you will be catering to many clients at a time.
Hairstyling stations
Besides this, hair salons obviously need styling stations. The service areas, including this, should take up most of the space.
The basics that you need for one of these setups are:
- A comfortable chair
- Good lighting
- A large mirror
- Storage space
Conventionally, many salons place these stations against the wall. Doing this can be a relatively quick and easy solution because you can mount features like the mirror to it. Alternatively, you can buy or build freestanding island units.
If you are a bit short on cash, you can start small with only one or two stations. You can always grow and expand as your client base does.
Remember, with all these service areas, you don’t want it to be too cramped. For the styling area, specifically, you should leave about three feet between the chairs.
Other services
In general, you should keep the different services separate from each other. You’ll find that this is less necessary with smaller salons, but it can still help with the way you run the business.
A nail bar doesn’t have to be in a separate room. You can place it in an open plan area with your hair care stations. But it could be useful and more appealing to place it on one side and in one corner of the room.
However, for massage and many other cosmetic services, you need to have separate rooms to give your clients privacy. Or else you need to use sturdy partitions to create little nooks.
What you will need for each of these will differ significantly. But for most of them, you will need a table or counter, storage space, and comfortable seating.
Storage area
We’ve mentioned storage multiple times. But that’s because any salon or parlor will need a huge range of equipment and products. Different clients and different services each have their own requirements.
You will want to put the most necessary supplies on hand at the different stations. However, it can be useful if you have at least a large cupboard or something like a utility closet to store the rest.
Doing this will help you keep the rest of the workspace uncluttered.
Decorating your beauty parlor and salon
You can’t expect people to trust your skill if your space doesn’t look beautiful. Preferably, salons want to be able to attract customers based on the decor alone.
Think of the interior decor as your artistic statement. It is one way in which you can let your customers know what you are all about.
Nowadays, simple and even minimalist themes are in style. So this is a good direction to go, especially if you are looking to attract a younger client base. But industrial and vintage themes are also a popular choice.
However, no matter what theme you go with, comfort and cleanliness are vital concerns. That’s why you want to keep the interiors neat and uncluttered yet still welcoming.
Advertising for your beauty parlor and salon
If you want to make your business a success, you must budget both money and time for advertising. You will need to do this to draw in new clients and customers. Anybody in the beauty industry will tell you that you should start to build a regular client base as soon as possible.
One of your best strategies for a home-run business will be word of mouth. Let all your friends and family know about your new venture and ask them to spread the word. Best of all, this type of promotion is free.
A pro tip is to offer discounted or even a handful of complementary services, in the beginning, to get started.
As with any other type of business, it’s a brilliant idea to get signage. Creating one or two and mounting signs to your fencing is a great way to catch the eye of potential clients in the neighborhood. Getting a name board or sign will also make your salon look more professional.
On top of this, a well-designed sign can even help to pretty up the exterior of the mobile home.
Find a distributor
To fill your salon with all the lovely new equipment and supplies, you will need to get into contact with distributors. More likely than not, you will have to use more than one. For example, one might supply you with chairs and another with cosmetics.
Shop around before you settle on a supplier to make sure you get the best deals.
As we’ve discussed, some of the basics that you will need are:
- Mirrors
- Seating
- Haircare products
- Brushes
- Hairpins
- Dryers
- Cleaning equipment and supplies
- Miscellaneous cosmetic products
You’ll notice that many of these are included in the steps of opening a beauty parlor. Here too, you will probably figure this out together with your business plan and design plans.
Make the world more beautiful
Opening a beauty parlor and salon is all about making people smile and feel good about themselves. Everyone wants to leave the world a better place than they found it. And transforming your mobile home can be just the right way to do this.
Do you know what else you can do with your house? If you are really interested in becoming a business owner check out how to turn a mobile home into a daycare facility and how to turn your mobile home into a pet salon & boarding facility.
